Some of my anger was forced because I was trying really hard not to think about her other words. I did remember lots of times those fuckers had been there for me. Starting with the plane crash—they’d saved my life. The training. The family breakfast. How Dylan had told me to remember that moment when we were all together. Beck had said that this was the only real thing they had. Something worth more than money.
So why hadn’t they stepped up for me this time? How could they let me walk into something like murder without a fucking heads-up? How could they hurt my best and oldest friend? Threaten to kill him?
“What about me?” Eddy demanded. “I didn’t betray you. I’m your best friend and that’s not going to change, no matter what our fucked up parents and their heirs do.”
She wore her stubborn expression, arms crossed over her chest, but the hurt was still there in her eyes.
A long sigh left me. “I love you, Eddy. You’re the first chick I’ve bonded with in a really long time. But right now, I need some time. I’m angry and hurt, and I know it’s shitty of me because you don’t have a clue what actually went down, but please try and understand, right now I can’t be around you. You remind me too much of what I’ve lost.”
Needing to escape from the pain in my chest—indirectly related to the girl across from me— I pushed past her toward the door.
She stopped me with softly spoken words. “Have you even given them a chance to explain? Not everything is black and white in our world. It might have looked like betrayal from the outside, but maybe they were still working for you. For the five of you.”
I didn’t turn back or answer, but again, those words hit a soft spot inside of me. I hadn’t given them a chance to explain, even though they had tried a million times. I couldn’t imagine a single thing they could have said to justify their actions, but…
I left, unable to deal with Eddy or my thoughts a moment longer. Evan was in the hallway waiting for me, and he wasn’t alone. Clearly he’d had to call in the reinforcements to deal with me.
Beck, Jasper, and Dylan stepped forward the moment I walked out. I scowled, stopping them in their tracks. Smoothing my face into something neutral, I looked across the group. My eyes resting on each perfect, gorgeous face. Despite my best efforts, I did care about these assholes, and I wondered if it would ever stop hurting to be around them.
“Why are you here?” I asked shortly.
“We need to tell you something,” Jasper said, his eyes doing that pleading thing that he was so good at. “The school is not safe grounds any longer. We’ve just learned that Huntley has enrolled a student here. We don’t have any other information yet, but for now, we need to appear as a strong, united team. We cannot allow them to see any weakness in our ranks.”
Fear and panic pushed through my apathy. “You’re lying.”
This had to be some sort of ploy to get me to fall back in line with them. It had to be, because this was their territory, and they still had all the power. Right?
Beck shook his head. “It’s the truth. There is a lot you don’t know. A vote coming up that could change the structure of our council, and this is the start of Huntley’s play for power. Showing a united front amongst Delta’s successors has never been so critical.”
“No,” I said without giving it another thought. “I won’t be pushed around by you like this. If this hasn’t come from the ones controlling my strings, then you can all go fuck yourselves. I do official Delta business only.”
Beck’s eyes were blazing when they met mine, and the darkness in them was a warning. A warning that I was pushing him past the point of comfort. That he was going to figure out a way to punish me for making life difficult.
Bring it on. He’d crushed me so hard that I was basically half a foot shorter, in spirit at least, so they better bring their best.
“If you don’t join us, Butterfly,” Beck said softly, his tone causing every hair on my arms to rise, “then we’ll have no choice but to make it very clear that the rejection was caused by us. We need to show strength and unity. An heir choosing to leave us, especially a new, female one, is a weakness in our ranks. But if it looks like it’s us hazing you, pushing you out to prove your worth. That isn’t the same.”
I snorted. “What the fuck can you do? Gonna beat me up and stuff me in a locker?”
They didn’t answer, and then one by one, they turned their backs on me, and walked away.
“Remember that we warned you, Riles,” Jasper said, over his shoulder.
“Whenever you want back into the fold, you know where to find us,” Evan added.
Beck and Dylan didn’t say anything, but the looks they leveled on me before they exited the hall had so much emotion in them, that for a beat, I couldn’t catch my breath.
Eddy, who must have been standing nearby, even though I hadn’t noticed her the entire time, stepped up to my side. “What the hell just happened?” I asked her, confused as fuck.
She turned a pale face and wide eyes on me. “They’re publicly rejecting you, Riles. Whatever you’re mad about, you need to get over it right now.”
My middle name might as well have been stubborn. “Hell no! They’re the ones who fucked up. They betrayed me. There is no way I’m going to just forgive it all now because they’ve forced me into some sort of shitty position.”
She shook her head, movements fast and jerky. “No! You don’t understand. Seriously. They rule this school. Every girl wants to fuck them, every guy wants to be them. You’ve been under their protection almost from the first moment you walked in here. If that protection disappears … worse, if it’s clear that you’re not one of them now, then the vultures will tear you to fucking pieces. You’ve been where all of them want to be, and they’re going to punish you for that.”
Seriously?
“I think you’re overreacting. Despite their opinions on the matter, they’re not actually gods. And no one cares about me. I’ll just be forgotten.”
Eddy shook her head, making a small disparaging sound. “Trust me. You were in the inner circle and everyone was jealous of you. You should have heard the chicks bitch about how you didn’t deserve what you had, and the guys all guessed what an awesome fuck you must be. Bottom line, now that you’re on the outs, they’ll make your life hell. You said the guys aren’t gods, but in this school, they might as well be.”
I couldn’t believe her, because if I did, then I’d be right where those assholes wanted me: needing their help and protection. With a shake of my head, I strode back to calculus, entering the room without knocking or offering any apology or explanation. That was how it usually worked when I was with the guys, but this time Mr. Greensmith leveled a glare on me.
“I’m not sure how your old school worked, Ms. Jameson, but here in Ducis, we do not just run in and out of classrooms like we own the place. See me after class.”
“Uh, sorry,” I said, stumbling back to my desk and sank down into the chair.
That was the first time I’d been reprimanded in this school, and the teacher had a point: I had been treating this place like I owned it. But no one had an issue until now … Eddy’s words ran through my head.